2013 World Masters- Sestriere Italy
4 intrepid Uringans travelled to Italy for the 2013 World Masters. The
venue, Sestriere, was the scene of the 2006 Winter Olympics and Gayle and I
stayed in what was then the athletes’ accommodation. The 4 Uringans were Dick
and Maureen and Gayle and I.
Now as the venue for the winter Olympics Sestriere is in the Italian
Alps and at altitude. Wherever you went you were either going up or down! And the
only time you were on the level was when you were in buildings. ( I exaggerate a
little here). Torino was the centre for the World Masters and was full to overflowing
with people with accreditation hanging around their necks and Masters Backpacks
chocked full of goodies. Between us we ended up with 2 packs of risotto rice
and coffee (wasted on me): Various supplies of tooth whitener and tanning
spray. Some contained a huge pack of cotton wool (for egos perhaps), band aids
and dressings. There were discount vouchers for a variety of shops etc but all
in Torino 100kms away. Now the beauty of where we were was that it was in the
mountains. Torino (Turin) was extremely hot and humid. The two days we spent
there were mainly spent trying to coax more cold air out of our room air
conditioner! We also both ended the stay with blisters mine proving to be more
of a problem as the competition wore on.
Organisation for the event in Sestriere was very very good. The local
town gym was the event centre and the town centre was used for ceremonies and
the sprint final finish.
The events kicked off with a model sprint event held in the nearby town
of Bardonecchia. Model events are always interesting events. For some it is so
dead keen serious and others it is a time to get the head back into reading a
map and catch up with fellow Ausies and friends from O/s. I leave you to
speculate on Gayle’s and I approach. The highlight of the day was the fact we
ended up in a queue to cross into France as we tried to navigate home. We later
realised that wherever you saw a sign “Frejus” it meant France that way!
The next day we headed (away from the French border) to Pragelato for
the Sprint Qualifications. The fields in each age group were large with in men’s
classes 3 to 4 heats of 70 plus competitors and in women’s 2 to 3 heats. The
village of Pragelato was small and compact and the main feature of the town was
an enormous ski jump smack in the middle of town and we finished in the landing
area. I understand why “Eddie the Eagle” did not quite fly too well.
So off we went in our first competition. The map was not that difficult
however the need for speed ensured that human error was always going to be a
factor. Competitors had to cope with the weekend town market ( there were
controls in amongst the market stalls), two churches with congregations
departing amidst it all and road crossings (the crossings were compulsory legs
and you had a voided leg with a 1 minute time limit - punching a control and
then crossing and punching the next control – controls 9 and 10 on my course.)
Unfortunately both Dick and Maureen mis-punched cruelling their chances for the
final. Gayle was 59th in her heat and I managed 56th in
mine. After the run we visited the markets- local growers and bought some great
cheese, bread and lashings of ham and prosciutto. Yumm.
The opening ceremony was held that night and we Aussies (31 in total)
marched into the town square for what was a wonderfully short opening ceremony.
The sprint final was held in Sestriere and as we headed to the assembly
area (town square) we walked past a large number of controls including 6 that
were in our accommodation complex. My first control was at the NW end of our
accommodation. Familiarity can help.
With Dick and Maureen out of the running the pressure was off however Maureen
was determined to show the world and was the 3rd placed runner home
but due to her earlier mp she was non-competitive. Dick took things a little
easier and was saving his legs for the long event. Gayle was in the W55B final
finishing 53rd and I finished 54th in M60C final.
The rest day was welcomed and we all trooped off for a look at the
model event for the long which was close by in that we walked there from our
accommodation. We also managed to do some gelato sampling and quickly
identified the best quality/price shop in town and we were on 1st
name terms when we left!
When you read that the walk to the start was going to have 210 metres
of climb in a 1km walk you get the picture and then toss in 275m of climb on
the course you realise quickly that the area was far from flat. So that is 485
metres of climb from the finish and that also means 485metres of descent on the
course. Hang on to those contour lines folks this is going to be steep.
The typical alpine terrain was experienced. Pine trees and light ground
cover, lots of tracks , open ski corridors and chair lift poles were the order
of the day and contour detail! Maureen was back in the hunt with a very solid 6th
placing and Dick, struggling with a cold finished 56th in his heat.
Gayle had a cleaner run yet was still in 67th position whilst I
managed to hobble in in 61st place ( not last) in my heat.
The rest day that followed was well received and allowed bodies to
recover and a little more sightseeing to be done. We headed up the gondola ride
which went right passed our balcony up to a local peak where we could look
straight into the Long Qual areas- it looked rather flat from where we were
standing!
The day of the final was spectacular with clear deep blue skies. A
feature of the event was the transport to the assembly area- two chair lifts.
Up and up we went. The organisers were at great pains to point out that we
would be competing at altitude whilst 2500 metres does not appear much it does
make a difference.
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| Long Final |
The assembly area was spectacularly located with great mountain and
views and Sestriere could be seen not too far away. The final is always a day
of tension. For our mob Maureen was in the A final and it all comes down to your
run on this day. Maureen finished in 7th place rather breathless
with her fist control approximately 75m straight up bringing her undone. She
never recovered from the physicality of this leg. That said she did us proud indeed.
Dick in the M65C final came home 52nd in what was a pretty clean
run. Gayle was 25th home in the W55C final and she was ruing one bad
control. For me, Mr Blister had expanded from the size of a 10 cent piece to
about a $2 note and with two more weeks of sightseeing to come- I wimped out! (Photos
are available of the offending blister- I posted it on Facebook (footbook) to
turn a few people off breakfast)
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| Maureen powers to the Finish |
In retrospect WMOC was most enjoyable. The Italians did a great job
presenting the events and little was lacking in their organisation. The Brazilians
were there busily promoting the 2014
Champs – with the event to be held in November they are going to have a tough
sell.
Whilst we were away besides “roasting in Roma” and playing “sardines in
Venice” we stayed in Grindelwald, Switzerland and Innsbruck, Austria taking in
the best of the Alpine Region. The word WOW was not enough to describe the
vista. Both these places are worth a
visit! So now back to normality.
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